The invention relates to a toy police car with realistic light and sound display. More particularly, the invention relates to a toy police car which has electronic circuitry configured to provide a remarkably realistic light and sound display.
While a tremendous variety of toys are available for today""s children, including learning toys, board games, video games, etc. xe2x80x98occupationalxe2x80x99 toys still are among the most popular. In other words, toys which allow a child to pretend to be a firefighter, a construction worker, an astronaut, or a policeman tend to be the most popular. Toy figures and toy vehicles are typical props in such play.
Among all such toys, the toy police car has been one of the most popular. A failing in toy police cars have been their ability to simulate the lights and sounds of a real police car. Some provide a siren. Some provide a flashing light bar. None, however are configured to simulate an actual modern police carxe2x80x94which often not only has a light bar, but flashes the headlights and tail lights as well.
In addition, while model police cars are often built by hobbyists to painstaking detail, they still do not provide a light and sound display with comparable realistic detail. Similar limitations occur in model ambulances and fire trucks, where the physical detail is striking, yet there is little operative realism in comparison to the complex light and sound patterns generated by their modern, full size counterparts.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.
It is an object of the invention to produce a toy police car which has a light and sound display which simulates an actual police car. Accordingly, the car includes a light bar comprising two red and two blue lights, a pair of head lights, and a pair of tail lights, a speaker, and a control circuit, which flashes all of said lights in a predetermined fashion and generates a siren sound through the speaker.
It is a further object of the invention to simulate rotating lights of a police car light bar without moving parts. Accordingly, the lights in the light bar of the present invention are four LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), which are lit in succession using four of ten outputs of a decade counter.
It is another object of the invention to provide a toy police car which, rather than simply flashing its lights on and off, actually simulates the complex flashing patterns of a modern police car. Accordingly, the headlights flash in an alternating fashion, and the tail lights flash such that one of the tail lights flashes on three times in quick succession, and then remains off while the other tail light flashes on three times in quick succession.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a toy police car which has a siren, which when selectively activated, produces a complex siren sound. Accordingly, a square wave generator operates in conjunction with a phased lock loop, through an analog switch, to create a unique sound which is still remarkably reminiscent of emergency vehicle sirens.
The invention is a simulated emergency vehicle display, for providing realistic light and sound in a toy emergency vehicle having a housing, having a front, a back, and a roof. A pair of headlights are located at the front, a pair of tail lights are located at the rear, and a plurality of light bar LEDs are located on the roof. A control circuit alternately illuminates each of the headlights, alternately flashes each of the tail lights three times, and repeatedly illuminates the light bar LEDs in sequence to simulate motion by the light bar LEDs. A speaker is selectively activated to provide a realistic siren sound.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects the invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the claims.